Vesicles exhibit high-performance removal of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) depending on their hydrophobic groups

The removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from drinking water is urgently needed. Here, we demonstrated high performance of vesicles on PFAS adsorption. Vesicles used in this study were enclosed amphiphile bilayers keeping their hydrophobic groups inside and their hydrophilic groups outside in water. The distribution coefficient Kd of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) for vesicles was 5.3 × 105 L/kg, which is higher than that for granulated activated carbon (GAC), and Kd of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) for vesicles was 103–104 L/kg. The removal efficiencies of PFOA and PFOS adsorption on DMPC vesicles were 97.1 ± 0.1% and 99.4 ± 0.2%, respectively. The adsorption behaviors of PFOA and PFOS on vesicles were investigated by changing the number of cis-double bonds in the hydrophobic chains of the vesicle constituents. Moreover, vesicles formed by membranes in the different phases were also tested. The results revealed that, when vesicles are formed of a membrane in the liquid-crystalline (liquid-like) phase, the adsorption amounts of both PFOA and PFOS increased as the cis-double bond in the hydrocarbon chains decreased, which is considered due to molecular shape similarity. When vesicles are formed of a membrane in the gel (solid-like) phase, they do not adsorb PFAS as much as in the liquid-crystalline phase, even though the hydrocarbon chains do not have any cis-double bond. Our findings demonstrate that vesicles can be utilized as PFAS adsorbents by optimizing the structure of vesicle constituents and their thermodynamical phase. Indeed, the vesicles (DMPC) were demonstrated that they can adsorb PFOA and PFOS, and be coagulated by a coagulant even in environmental water. The coagulation will enable the removal of PFOA and PFOS from the water after adsorption. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd